FARMERS SHOULD BE FARMING, NOT FILLING IN FORMS

Shadow Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, Senator Susan McDonald, has called for primary producers to submit examples of red tape hampering their ability to improve productivity and profitability.

Senator McDonald recently secured an extension to a Senate Inquiry to examine producers’ experience of dealing with growing regulatory requirements.

“Farmers are weighed down by accreditation requirements, unnecessary paperwork and outdated forms that make it harder, more expensive and more time-consuming to do the one thing this country desperately needs them to do which is grow food and fibre,” she said.

“I have asked the Senate Select Committee on Productivity in Australia to examine the weight of red tape and duplication being imposed on Australian farmers and what can be done to streamline or remove unnecessary requirements.

“I have heard from farmers from Palmerston to Shepparton and Mareeba to Beaudesert who say smaller family farms can spend 20 to 30 hours a week filling in forms and meeting accreditation requirements.

“One banana farmer in Innisfail is dealing with Reef360, IPM, HARPS, GlobalG.A.P., Freshcare, Fair Farms, SEDEX and horticultural sustainability requirements, all while trying to run a farm.

“In the beef industry, graziers can face different paperwork, accreditation and auditing requirements depending on the markets they are supplying.”

Senator McDonald said that while not all accreditation and compliance requirements were imposed by governments, governments had a responsibility to address complaints and identify opportunities to simplify the system.

“I want to hear directly from farmers, graziers and agricultural organisations about the red tape they deal with every day, where requirements are being duplicated and how the system could be made simpler,” she said.

“If you are spending hours filling out forms that tell different organisations essentially the same thing, send me your examples and your ideas for fixing it.

“I want to see farmers farming, not filling in forms.”

Senator McDonald said primary producers across the country were telling her the administrative burden had become overwhelming.

“Larger agricultural businesses may be able to employ staff specifically to deal with compliance, but that comes at a significant cost. Smaller family farms often don’t have that luxury, so the farmer ends up doing it themselves.

“Every hour spent filling in duplicative forms is an hour not spent growing food, improving a business or spending time with family.

“This red tape makes farms less productive and less profitable, but the greater danger is that it contributes to farmers and their children deciding that farming is simply no longer worth it.

“Three in five farmers are considering leaving the industry, and we shouldn’t be surprised when the next generation walks away if we continue making one of the most important jobs in the country more about paperwork than the paddock.”

Submissions can be made to productivity.sen@aph.gov.au before the October 15 deadline.

ENDS